Drug and Alcohol Addiction Treatment Centers In New Hampshire

New Hampshire is a New England state on the northeastern coast of the country bordered by Massachusetts, Vermont, and Maine. Home to 1.34 million people, New Hampshire is a popular winter destination, known for winter sports at the White Mountain National Forest. Nature lovers enjoy the mountains for sport and animal sightings, given that moose and black bears are plentiful. New Hampshire's capital city of Concord is just slightly north of the state’s largest and most populous city of Manchester, both of which buzz every four years, as New Hampshire is the first primary state in each presidential election cycle.

Substance Abuse in New Hampshire

The current status of the substance abuse environment in New Hampshire is almost entirely about the opioid epidemic. Currently, New Hampshire is facing the second-worst opioid overdose death rate in the country, second only to West Virginia.

According to the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, the opioid overdose death rate began to skyrocket when the rate jumped from 14.51 deaths per 100,000 people to 25.03 deaths during the one-year period from 2013 to 2014. New Hampshire was already above the national average of 13.3 deaths per 100,000 people in 2013, but as of 2017, the death rate is at a staggering 36.61 overdose deaths per 100,000 people. Further disturbing is the widespread devastation of the opioid epidemic in the state, with the report showing overdose deaths in at least 20 percent of people in every age group from nineteen to fifty-nine years old.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) reports that the main cause of opioid overdose increases in New Hampshire can be attributed to synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl. Overdose deaths involving the synthetic opioid increased tenfold, from 30 to 363 over the three-year period from 2013 to 2106. Therefore, New Hampshire addiction treatment is overwhelmingly being sought to address heroin and fentanyl addictions rather than prescription opioids. While the epidemic may have begun with the misuse of opioids, New Hampshire's current drug issue is surrounding the use of heroin and illicitly manufactured fentanyl, made in clandestine labs.

Addiction Treatment Options in New Hampshire

With the enormous opioid abuse and addiction crisis in New Hampshire, the state has recently received federal funding for more addiction treatment options and support to curb the epidemic. Currently, New Hampshire has a small number of addiction treatment facilities and services to accommodate the growing need.